Dimitri's POV in Vampire Academy (Fanfic)

Chapter 6

At last, Sunday was here. I escaped my daily duties, heading towards the church for church service which was about to start in half an hour. I was the first to walk in, heading straight for the benches at the back. I settled down, relaxing my shoulders and letting out a deep breath.

I couldn’t claim myself to be a religious person. Normally I referred to myself as an agnostic. If a god existed, I was sure he/she/it and I were fine with keeping a fine distance from one another. But church was a good place for quality time. The Orthodox Christian environment reminded me of Russia – home. I never bothered with listening to the priest; instead, my time was spent repenting in my own way.

Six molnija marks marked the back of my neck. Six molnija marks; one for every kill. Killing a Strigoi was a lifestyle, a job – our duty. But no matter what my Siberian mentors had taught, I could never pretend that the deaths I had caused did not bother me. They did. The Strigoi were lethal, they completely lacked humanity. But no matter the good that came from killing a Strigoi, it was still someone’s past I had erased; obliterated. In very rare moments, a Strigoi could do something that was almost normal; humane. And it was in those moments that I wondered; was there anything there besides the cruelty?

It was during my worst nightmares that the ghastly faces of those six Strigoi flashed through my memory. When I fought them, I was ruthless. Never hesitate. Hesitation could kill you instantly. No, I stay focused on the action. But when the danger was over, and I had time to think, guilty thoughts crept into my consciousness.

Killing was never easy.

I glanced around myself, thankful for the religious icons lining the walls, the flickering lanterns, the dark, calming atmosphere. I looked up to the entrance as students and teachers alike began to file in, filling up the benches. Among the students my eyes caught a tall, pale frame. Vasilisa. And next to her – Rose!

Rose?

What was she doing here? The Headmistress had banned her from all social activities. And yet somehow, here she was. Well, I should have known she would figure out some way to spend time with her friend. I didn’t doubt for a second that she probably pulled an “I found Jesus” on the Headmistress. Resolutely, I schooled my features and looked away.  

It was only when she had settled down next to Vasilisa that I dared look at her again. All I could see was the back of her head; the dark mane of hair curling down the back of her seat. But that was all I needed. She proved to be a good distraction from my brooding thoughts.

The priest was going on and on about St. Vladimir, and Rose seemed excessively bored by the service, evident from the way she kept shifting around in her seat.

‘…and so it was with shadow-kissed Anna.’ At that, Rose’s head jerked up with lightning speed, her body going rigid with attention.

Huh. Perhaps she was listening after all.

Unfortunately, the sermon reached its conclusion, but I remained in my seat, waiting for the rest of the people to leave first. I saw Rose and Vasilisa stand, but instead of leaving with the rest of the students, Rose shook her head, saying something to Vasilisa before pushing her way up to the front. I couldn’t contain my surprise as I watched her march right up to the priest, even waiting while he finished talking to some other people.

The priest – probably as surprised as I was by Rose’s presence there – raised his eyebrows when he saw her. Rose struck up conversation with him, for once not gesticulating like a wild maniac. I couldn’t possibly figure out what she could want with a priest. After a while though, the priest left, returning a moment later with a massive, clearly very old book. He dumped it into Rose’s outstretched arms, and I was struck by a sense of déjá vu, recalling my old mentor doing the same to me.

Rose couldn’t have been as pleased as I was, because she turned around with a scowl planted on her beautiful face, clearly in search of Vasilisa.

I got up then, silently making my way out of church. I stopped just before the entryway, noting that Rose and Vasilisa were still there, chatting with some other Moroi students. They were just about to step out, when a heavy pile of slush landed right on their heads, drenching them in ice cold. Both girls yelped, but Rose was the fastest, jumping out of the way, which unfortunately just meant that Vasilisa took the brunt of it.

I watched in fascination as Rose, completely focused on her friend, asked if she was okay, pulling off her coat to offer it to her. Vasilisa began to protest, but Rose, ever the bossy friend, snapped at her to take it. She held Vasilisa’s wet jacket as the girl changed.

‘Wish you hadn’t been wearing a coat, Rose,’ said the Moroi from earlier, the friend of Zeklos’. ‘That shirt would have looked good wet.’

I narrowed my eyes at him, but figured Rose was capable of handling herself.

‘That shirt’s so ugly it should be burned. Did you get that from a homeless person?’ The vile comment was made by a blonde, short Moroi girl.

Rose flinched. I nearly rolled my eyes. Typical teenage banter. I wasn’t surprised when Rose had a ready snappy comment.

‘I suppose you want to offer to burn it, huh? Oh, wait – fire isn’t your element, is it? You work with water. What a coincidence that a bunch just fell on us.’ Rose had a point. It was a coincidence. And if a Moroi was wielding magic to harm other Moroi, it was my responsibility to step in and resolve conflict. No conflict could break out however, because Vasilisa nudged Rose, and the grumbling dhampir finally walked away.

When the girls were gone, I approached the blonde girl and the rest of the group that stayed behind, laughing and joking about the wet incident. Standing right next to the blonde, Mia Rinaldi was her name, I loudly cleared my throat. Several Moroi heads swivelled around to look at me, eyes wide and frightened. That was usually peoples’ reaction to my height, but right now, their reaction was a desired one.

‘Miss Rinaldi, is everything alright?’ I fixed her with my gaze, and she visibly gulped.

‘Yes, sir,’ she stammered.

‘Good. Return to your dorms.’ Immediately, they all began to shuffle away, casting anxious glances back at me.

Satisfied, I strolled over to the teachers’ department. On my way, I ran into Alberta, who nodded at me and asked me to walk with her.

‘Ah, Belikov. How’s Hathaway getting along?’

I considered for a moment. It would be overly optimistic to say that things were going well, but it could certainly have been worse. ‘Fine, so far.’

‘Good. In all honesty, I was expecting her to cause trouble the first five minutes into the school day.’

I laughed; her expectations were not far off reality. ‘Likewise. But she hasn’t done anything,’ I said. I frowned, ‘yet.’

Alberta snorted. ‘That girl is sure going to be hard to tame.’

I shook my head ruefully. Man, she had no idea. She said she needed to get to her office, and seeing as I had nothing to do, I decided to head to the gym for a relaxing work-out session.

“Relaxing” was maybe not the right word for it, but lifting weights was not a particularly complex activity, and my mind razed as my muscles flexed.

I replayed the incident outside the church, how Rose had, without preamble, offered Vasilisa her jacket. No matter the opinions people had about her, there was one person in this world Rose really cared about. “Selfless” was the adjective drifting through my mind. Vasilisa was Rose’s sole motivation, and I needed to remember that.